Barcelona pressures City to renew Cancelo loan

Anwar Ibrahim (Cairo)

Portuguese full-back Joao Cancelo does not yet know where he will play in the new season, after the end of his loan from Manchester City to Barcelona, ​​and his return to his English club, which wants to sell him permanently, not loan him again.
Spanish press sources reported that Barcelona is interested in keeping Cancelo in its ranks, through a new loan, because the final purchase does not suit the difficult financial circumstances that “Barca” is experiencing.
The player also hopes to stay at Barcelona on loan, but the same sources confirmed that City does not want a new loan this summer, but rather hopes to sell permanently for an amount ranging between 20 and 30 million euros, because Cancelo is currently 30 years old, and the chances of getting a good price when selling him after the loan are diminishing.
Al-Ahly and Al-Ettifaq of Saudi Arabia offered Cancelo to play in the Saudi League, with a huge salary, but it seems that the player does not want to try playing in the Saudi League.
Italian press sources reported that Inter Milan is considering acquiring Cancelo’s services to compensate for the absence of Canadian defender Tyone Buchanan, who was injured during one of his country’s national team’s training sessions on the sidelines of the Copa America, which led to him undergoing surgery on his leg, and he may be absent for more than 6 months.
However, Inter hopes to reduce the amount requested by City in exchange for Cancelo’s services, and is offering 10 million euros.
For its part, the Catalan newspaper Sport said that Barcelona’s plan is to avoid rushing, so that it can win the race, and in doing so, it relies on Cancelo’s help to reject any offers coming from other clubs, in an attempt to pressure City to agree to loan him again, and to abandon selling him.
The newspaper added that Barcelona is ready to wait until the summer transfer window closes, to increase pressure on the English Premier League champion.
Joao Cancelo, born on May 27, 1994, began his professional career at Benfica until 2015, but was loaned to Valencia for the 2014-2015 season, then moved to them permanently until 2018. He was loaned to Inter Milan for the 2017-2018 season, then moved to Juventus for the 2018-2019 season, and finally settled in Manchester City in 2019. He was loaned to Bayern Munich in 2023 and then to Barcelona, ​​and his loan ended this summer.
Cancelo played for the U-16, U-17, U-18, U-19, U-20 and U-21 teams, and joined the first team in 2016. He is currently participating with his country’s team in the European Nations Cup held in Germany.